Buddha told us, all the sentient beings are born with Tathagata’s wisdom and virtuous demeanor, but are unable to affirm their presence because of our delusion and attachments. Regardless of gender, race, physical shape or appearance, everyone is equally perfect inside and possesses boundless wisdom, merits and possibilities.

However, by chasing sounds and images, seeking fame and fortune, drifting from birth to death through myriad of life times, we have forgotten completely our real self and our Buddha nature and have mistaken the illusion in our dream as our true self, sinking ever deeper into the sea of endless suffering.

After experiencing countless terrors and pains, we begin to question the meaning of all this suffering and our true identities. Tiring of this all, we start to walk back, eager to go home, to elevate our spirituality, to reach enlightenment, but are worried that we may be too ignorant or lack of wisdom, merits or courage.

We need not worry though. Whether ignorant or wise, it is all part of the dream. What we are seeking is not outside of us. The invaluable treasure is right within. No matter how much we have stumbled and strayed, the bright True Nature (Svabhava) has never been lost. Without it, neither the dreams nor we would exist. In fact, our True Nature manifests itself through the countless experiences of all the sentient beings. The sheer variety of experiences shows the omnipresence and omnipotence of the True Nature.

We must understand that to reach enlightenment is “merely to rediscover who we are”. The True Nature is right within us and we should not look for it outwardly. We have been searching outside of ourselves for too long and continue to struggle in the relentless sea of suffering life after life. We only need to turn back and look, not outward, but inward. Stop seeking and just observe – The Buddha is sitting right there in your heart. The sea of suffering is boundless. Turn back, and behold, there is the shore!

The True Nature is inside our heart and complete without any deficiencies as stated in the Sutra, “The Buddha Nature is neither created nor destroyed, neither dirty nor clean, neither growing nor diminishing”, the idea that we may create a Buddha with any outward efforts is simply absurd.

Since the True Nature is perfect and has unlimited merits, we must know not to preoccupy ourselves with external merits, obligations, or ceremonies and leave no time to look inward.

It should be understood that Buddha is priceless and the True Nature cannot be obtained through the accumulation of merits. Even if we could reach the True Nature with unlimited merits, the merits would have to be authentic. Authentic merits cannot be achieved in this mundane world, and no goal-oriented efforts can lead to them either. The Sixth Patriarch said, “Not departing from the True Nature is authentic merit. Observing oneself is authentic merit. Non-no doing is authentic merit. Unsurpassable stillness is authentic merit”.

To achieve these, not only must we remember our true self, but we must also look inward.

Since the True Nature already contains all the methods, we need not search for other methods. All methods are the creation of our mind. When methods are created, the mind stops being still. When the mind is not still, we cannot see the True Nature. Therefore we can only reside peacefully with things the way they are. Only when we reside peacefully can the mind be still. Only when the mind is still can a person become clear. A clear mind is the key to transforming ignorance into wisdom.

Reaching enlightenment is not so difficult; we only have to wake up from our dreams. Why then are there so few people able to achieve it? It is because no one actually wants to wake up. While there are many people who commit their whole lives to searching and cultivating, they are only having different dreams.

To reach enlightenment is not difficult. To transform ignorance into wisdom is even less difficult. It just has to be what we really want.